He has succeeded in developing and spreading the use of a new system to improve the cognitive function of senior citizens suffering from senile dementia as well as healthy people by top-down application of the findings of basic research involving functional brain imaging (Kawashima et al. 2005). The system to improve the cognitive function of dementia patients, called “learning therapy,” is used at more than 400 facilities (as of the end of 2006) for the care of more than 6000 such patients. The economic effect of the system has been estimated to reduce nursing care insurance costs by 100,000 yen per person annually (Organization of the Learning Therapy). The system has also been proven to be effective in preventing dementia (Uchida & Kawashima 2008), and is utilized for the welfare of senior citizens in 56 municipalities, including Sendai City, Shinagawa Ward, Yokohama City, and Gifu Prefecture.

Through industry-university cooperative R&D which considered brain function imaging techniques as the seeds, he succeeded in developing a new category of industry with the concept of “train your brain,” and created educational, publishing, IT, and entertainment industries to improve brain function. According to an estimate by a private think tank (Yano Research Institute), it is estimated that a new market worth 23 billion yen was created in 2006. For these activities, he was ranked in the Top 50 Innovators in New Media for 2006 (by Producers Guild of America New Media Council) and awarded a grand prize in the annual Buzzwords Contest and the Trend Award.

As a leader of the Mobility & Smart Aging Research Group of Tohoku University, he heads a cross-departmental group which is developing a new vehicle that “makes you healthy physically and mentally just by riding in a car.” The group is partnering with Toyota in industry-university cooperative R&D from 2008.

Through his publications for the general public, he has raised awareness about and spread throughout society knowledge of brain function. He has been writing an article weekly in a national newspaper (Mainichi Shimbun) since April 2006 concerning the topic “Train Your Brain.” He has also written a series of articles in local newspapers, including Kahoku Shimpo, Hokkaido Shimbun, and Chu-nichi Shimbun. For these activities, he was awarded the Nice Step Researcher Award in 2006 from the National Institute of Science and Technology Policy (NISTP) of the Ministry Education, Culture, Sports, Science, and Technology (MEXT) as well as the 9th Japan PR Grand Prize from a private company in December 2006.